The role of local government in migrant and refugee settlement in regional and rural Australia

Government responsibility for the settlement of newly arrived refugees and migrants in Australia is shared between the federal, state and local levels. While Australia's settlement policies are predominantly top‐down and Commonwealth driven with some state involvement, local government has the potential to play a greater role in facilitating the settlement of newly arrived migrants and refugees. A growing body of literature in Australia and overseas highlights the role of local‐level policies in supporting integration and social cohesion, which is arguably even more crucial in the context of migrant and refugee settlement in regional and rural areas. This paper draws on focus groups with 90 local stakeholders in eight local government areas in Victoria to propose a typology of local government involvement that shows the variable but potentially significant role of local government in the regional and rural settlement of recent arrivals. We argue that Australia's over 560 local governments provide crucial but underutilised governance resources for improving the settlement process. This finding has implications for settlement policies and funding, intergovernmental coordination, and the retention of migrants and refugees in regional and rural communities in Australia.     

统计模型的“不确定性”问题:与倾向值方法

量化社会学研究往往基于特定的统计模型展开。近十几年来日益流行的倾向值方法也不例外,其在实施过程中需要同时拟合估计倾向值得分的“倾向值模型”与估计因果关系的“结果模型”。然而,无论是其模型形式还是系数估计,统计模型本身都具有不可忽视的“不确定性”问题。本研究在倾向值分析方法的框架下,系统梳理和阐释了模型形式不确定性与模型系数不确定性的内涵及其处理方法。通过分析“蒙特卡洛模拟”数据与经验调查数据,本文展示了在使用倾向值方法进行因果估计的过程中,研究者如何通过“贝叶斯平均法”进行多个备选倾向值模型的选择,以及如何通过联合估计解决倾向值模型与估计模型中的系数不确定性问题。本文的研究也表明,在考虑倾向值估计过程的不确定性之后,结果模型中对于因果关系的估计呈现更小的置信区间和更高的统计效率。     

农业现代化与政府行为

政府在农业现代化进程中的重要任务之一是安排所需要的制度。农业现代化需要政府通过外在制度来加以规范。政府在农业现代化进程中出现市场失灵和收入差距过大时应有所作为。关税、配额、出口补贴和汇率政策等政府行为都会对农业现代化产生影响。     

论发展中国家有效提高政府经济行为质量的途径

政府的作用十分重要,但政府经济行为未必都是高质量的。提高发展中国家政府经济行为质量应注重:加强政府决策的科学性和保持一个高效率的政府机构;适时地调整政府的经济职能;保持一定的权威;提高政治民主化程度;为政府行为提供一个有利的社会经济环境;引入适度的外部压力。     

中等收入阶层视野中的民主与宪政

现代化的群体位序的确立和强大中等收入阶层的培育,有利于现代化进程,有利于向上流动,而人们经过自己的努力获得上升的通道,就是民主制度的建立和宪政法治理念的确立,也就是每个个体的幸福应该尽可能地获得很好的制度保证。我们渴望的宪政将有赖于公平价值的建立、对相关利益群体或者阶层的关顾和宪法制度的创新,因为中等收入阶层是法治民主的最坚定的保卫者,而宪政法治又能保卫保卫者。     

The efficiency of government spending on health: Evidence from Europe and Central Asia

This paper uses data envelopment analysis (DEA) to evaluate health expenditures to demonstrate how productivity has changed over time for 46 selected countries in Europe and Central Asia. Our results show that countries could have increased output by 1.2% given the existing level of inputs. The patterns of efficiency change for the observed countries are further analyzed using the Malmquist productivity index (MPI). Decreased productivity growth is related to technical change. Finally, we regress efficiency scores on a set of environmental variables using a Tobit model. The positive influence of hospital beds and primary schooling on efficiency scores demonstrates that countries with better medical environments and a greater number of educational years may enjoy increased efficiency. In addition, there exists a regional effect between Europe and Central Asia.     

浅析我国经济转型期城镇失业的现状及政府政策

通过对失业概念的界定,根据我国近十年城镇失业状况相关数据的统计和分析,进而对我国政府在城镇失业问题上所采取的一系列解决失业、促进就业的宏观经济政策的实践情况进行了浅析,希望能对此问题的研究有所助益。     

五卅事件与北京政府后期的国内政局

五卅事件使国内政局出现一系列重大变化,这种情况在北方尤其明显。一个地方性的"惨杀"行为迅速演化为全国性的"事件",巨大的民族自觉浪潮兴起;国家政治的重心由各派军事势力的"内斗"转向"一致对外",但举国一致的局面迅速形成又很快瓦解,北京政府作为"中央政府"的权威不复存在,社会陷入更加混乱与无序的境地,并深刻影响到此后国内政局的走向。     

Relationship between quality of work life and organizational commitment among lecturers in a Malaysian public research university

Committed employees are known as a fundamental and vital resource for the success performance of organizations. In this regard, quality of work life is being as one of the interest subject as a fundamental issues on fostering employees’ commitment. By the same token, this study aimed to investigate the level and relationship between quality of work life and organizational commitment amongst academic staff in a public research university in Klang Valley, Malaysia. This study was designed based on quantitative methods. The population of current research was consisted about 2,902 lecturers of the examined university according to the university's official website. For the purpose of data collection, 330 sets of questionnaire were distributed among the academic staffs of all faculties and a total of 315 questionnaires were used for statistical analysis. The obtained results via correlation and linear regression showed that there is a high significant relationship between quality of work life and organizational commitment. This study contributes to the existing literature and suggests some human resource development strategies on how the related ministry and universities could improve their employees’ commitment.     

论政府在统筹城乡发展中的功能与作用

统筹城乡发展是一项非常复杂的社会系统工程,加强政府对城乡关系的宏观调控至关重要,不可或缺。政府对统筹城乡发展具有规划功能、导引功能、调节功能、服务功能。政府必须把加快城镇化建设,实现城乡劳动者充分就业,培育城乡统一市场,实现城乡居民收入增长作为调控现阶段城乡关系的方向和重点。应注意充分发挥规划、政策、法律等机制在调控城乡关系中的作用。     

抗日时期国民政府组织难民西北垦荒问题述略

抗日时期,难民大量内迁西北为垦荒提供了充足的劳动力,同时西北又有大量的生熟荒地。在国民政府和西北各省地方政府的积极组织和领导下,垦荒取得了一定的成效。对于难民的西北垦荒,在充分肯定其成绩和意义的同时,也应看到其具有的战时特性。     

Home‐ownership,housing regimes and income inequalities in Western Europe

Norris M, Winston N. Home‐ownership, housing regimes and income inequalities in Western Europe This article compares the structural features of home‐ownership systems in European Union 15 (EU15) countries (home‐ownership rates, mortgages and public subsidisation of this tenure) with data on inequalities in outcomes (variations in home‐ownership access, risks and standards between income groups). Its purpose was to assess the relevance of the debate on the convergence and divergence of housing systems, which has dominated the comparative housing literature. The article concludes that, depending on the level of analysis adopted and the particular variables selected for examination, elements of both convergence and divergence are evident in Western European home‐ownership systems. The comparative housing literature has also largely failed to capture the key inter‐country cleavages in home‐ownership systems that are between the Northern and Southern EU15 countries. These shortcomings are related to methodological and conceptual problems in the literature.     

The Rule of Law Approach to Government Governance in China*

Chinese government governance involves the two dimensions of autonomy and co-governance. The process of moving from government management to government governance is a synchronous process of moving from government by a legal system to a “rule of law” government. Such governance coincides with the rule of law in terms of fundamental guarantees, governance frameworks, intrinsic values, external forms, goal pursuits and construction paths and lays the foundation for the realization of government governance. The multi-subject structure, multiplicity of rules and regulations, interaction of processes, diversity of modes and complexity of disputes in this form of governance place new demands on the construction of the rule of law. In response to these needs, we should improve the government’s functional orientation and the disposition of its powers by means of statute law; expand the types of administrative bodies and improve the laws on administrative organizations; enrich the sources of law; use consensus rules to improve controlling rules; be guided by interactivity in improving the administrative procedure system; normalize diversified administrative behavior; and establish multiple dispute resolution mechanisms and strengthen right relief. This will highlight the rule of law path taken by government governance. In the course of the integration and interaction of such governance with the rule of law, we will need to coordinate our responses to its latent risks, such as governance pitfalls and the limitations of the rule of law.     

黑土地域文化建设与提高城市居民素质--黑土地域文化建设与提高城市居民文明素质的调查报告

黑土地域文化建设对于城市居民素质的提高有重要作用.其物质制约机制是塑造文明素质的基础;其动力机制是塑造文明素质的推进器;其价值导向机制是塑造文明素质的定位器;其制度整合机制是塑造文明素质的关键;其教育训练机制是塑造文明素质的重要举措.     

The Relationship between Government on One Side and the Market and Society on the Other in China's Agricultural and Rural Development: An Analytical Framework

统筹城乡发展要求政府承担促进农业农村发展的责任。我国政府以国家干预、政 府主导为特征的农业农村政策,在农业发展、农民增收和城乡协调发展等方面都已取 得较大进展,但现有农业政策在提高农业生产率方面的限度日益显现。有鉴于此,急 需构建一个政府调控和引导农业农村发展的新的分析框架,在其中,政府需要界分与 市场、农村社会组织之间的行为边界,在充分尊重市场配置资源的基础性作用、尊 重农村社会自主管理的基础上,体现政府职能的“兜底”特征;而且,政府在构建市 场/社会运行的基本制度、匡正和补充市场/社会失灵、培育市场/社会主体等职能中需 要进行逻辑先后排序。应用这一新分析框架,加强和改善政府对农业农村发展的调控 和引导,就需要基于农业市场化取向改革农村基本经营制度和农业支持保护体系,注 重对农业生产市场主体的培育;需要以政府为主体构建城乡一体化的基本公共服务体 系,创新农村社会管理体制,充分调动社会力量参与公共事务治理;需要基于城乡一 体化要求重构政府行政管理体制,确保农业农村发展政策的落实。

关键词: 统筹城乡发展?政府?市场?社会

The integrated development of urban and rural areas requires that the government take responsibility for the overall development of the countryside. Chinese agricultural and rural policies characterized by state intervention and government leadership have played an important role in promoting agricultural development and increasing farmers' incomes as well as balancing development in urban and rural areas. However, the effectiveness of current agricultural policies in promoting agricultural productivity is now clearly leveling off. Given this situation, the authors argue that it is imperative to construct a new analytical framework featuring government regulation and guidance of agricultural and rural development. In this framework, the government must clearly define the boundaries between its activities and those of the market and rural social organizations. While fully respecting the fundamental role of the market in allocation of resources and rural self‐management, the government should exercise its power as a backstop. Further, the government needs to establish a logical sequence for government functions such as formulating the basic operating system of the market and society, correcting market failure and social dysfunction and cultivating market/social entities. To use this new analytical framework to strengthen and improve its regulation and guidance of agricultural and rural development, the government needs to reform the basic rural management and agricultural support and protection systems and to pay attention to the cultivation of market entities in agricultural production on the basis of agricultural marketization. Furthermore, it needs to construct a basic urban‐rural integrated public service system with the government as the leading actor, carry out innovations in the management system of rural society and fully mobilize the social forces to take part in the administration of public affairs. It also needs to reconstruct the system of government administration and management to ensure the thorough implementation of agricultural and rural development policies.     

The policies of unemployment protection in Europe

The abundant literature on welfare state policies, regimes or ‘worlds’ has been only limitedly interested in unemployment protection, and even less in youth unemployment protection. What is clearly lacking in the literature is an updated analysis of the most recent policies developed in European countries targeting youth. This mini‐symposium aims to fill in this gap by presenting findings from an EU‐funded research project entitled ‘Youth, Unemployment and Exclusion in Europe: A Multidimensional Approach to Understanding the Conditions and Prospects for Social and Political Integration of Young Unemployed’ (YOUNEX). The main aim of the research endeavour was to develop theory and contribute to empirical knowledge concerning the social and political exclusion of unemployed youth in Europe.     

政府与市场关系理论及其发展

政府与市场关系经历了三个历史阶段,第一阶段政府从市场外部进入到市场内部,第二阶段政府从辅助功能转变为主导功能,用以弥补市场功能的不足,第三阶段政府的职能从微观层次上升到宏观层次.不同国家的市场发育程度不同,政府在不同发展阶段进入市场,因而政府与市场关系会形成不同模式.后发国家事先缺乏成熟的市场经济,政府进入市场所采取的不同的发展路径,必然形成不同的结果.确立政府与市场关系无疑重要,高风险需要分散化市场投资,而高技术研究与开发需要政府支持.     

Sources of social support,job satisfaction,and quality of life among childcare teachers

Although literature has suggested a link between social support and well-being, relatively little research has examined the association of social support with job satisfaction and quality of life for employees. This study aimed to investigate whether and how different sources of social support influenced quality of life in conjunction with job satisfaction among teachers. Two-hundred and eighty-one childcare teachers in Korea completed measures of social support, job satisfaction, and quality of life. The results revealed that while director and colleague support predicted job satisfaction, director and family support predicted quality of life after controlling for age and marital status. Furthermore, results showed that job satisfaction mediated the relationship between director support and quality of life. The findings suggest the protecting role of different sources of social support in teachers’ job experience and evaluation of life domains. Suggestions for future research and implications for improving childcare teachers’ quality of life are discussed.     

The politics of safety net reform in Southern Europe during the Great Recession: Introduction to the regional issue

Southern European welfare states have developed relatively solid social insurance income maintenance programs, but have lacked effective means-tested benefit systems to address poverty and protect outsiders. Spain and Portugal are usually considered the two first countries to depart from the traditional path with the creation of minimum income schemes between 1988 and 1995. In the Spanish case, minimum income programs were established at the regional level and are very heterogeneous despite their institutional stability. The limited extent of these programs in most Spanish regions must be put in the context of national means-tested income support schemes in the fields of pensions and unemployment. The introduction of these programs in the 1980s was also a significant path departure. The combination of these programs has offered some income support to low income groups left unprotected by traditional insurance benefits, although in a patchy and limited way, especially as regards the working-age population. The social effects of the Great Recession, especially in terms of long-term unemployment, evictions and impoverishment, have reopened the debate on how to combat monetary poverty, which has been on the general election agenda since 2014–2015. Most regions have reformed their programs in different directions since 2008, under the contradictory pressures of growing demand and financial constraints. Such debate, however, has not been able yet to set a clear basis for a new development of anti-poverty income support policy.     

中国财政供养的规模及影响变量——基于十年机构改革的经验(英文)

财政供养人员是政府的行政之基,其规模大小直接影响政府效能与社会和谐。1998年以来的政府机构改革,有效地抑制了财政供养规模的膨胀,中国当前的财政供养规模总体上处于安全水平、受控状态,但在优化财政供养人员的结构与功能方面仍然面临巨大挑战。中国的财政供养问题绝非是一个孤立的问题,而是与更深层的政府体制改革息息相关。财政供养问题其实是中国政府体制改革的一个缩影,政府体制很多深层次的问题都会在财政供养问题中得到集中反映,而财政供养存在的各种现实问题,也只有通过政府体制改革才能够从根本上解决。